Never mind the Welsh weather, this was one date that Julie Groom and her extended family didn’t want to miss!
Last year they climbed Mount Snowden to raise money for the ME Association. They enjoyed that day so much that, despite the clouds coming down to the ground, Julie took them back to the mountain on Tuesday this week to do it all over again.
“We’ve just got back. This time, we ascended the miners track and came back down by the Llanberis path. We had views for most of the way until 30 minutes from the top when we hit fog and clouds again!” Julie told me.
“Going up this time was much harder and more strenuous. There was never a time when I wanted to give up, but I found it tough. The point of doing this walk was to raise awareness with my friends, family and colleagues, and anyone else who sees the t-shirt, and to remind myself that we cannot give up trying for more research.”
Julie walked up the mountain with her son Connor and her nieces Evie and Nell. The one person who couldn’t be with them and who they missed the most was her other son, 23-year-old William, who has ME and has been ill these past 11 years.
“William is limited in his choices of activities. He works two afternoons a week for an hour each time with a lady who looks after school clubs. But that takes everything out of him. He wants to work, but then has no energy left for other activities.”
Photos show Connor Groom signifying his enjoyment of the magnificent views – Julie, Connor, Evie and Nell at the summit (again, the fog had descended and there were no views!) – Julie, pausing a while for a photo.
They’d have done it sooner this year but life just got in the way!
“We didn’t set out to raise any money this year. In a nutshell, my mum had a stroke in March and other things just took over”, said Julie, who lives in Derbyshire and works for the East Midlands Probation Service.
Thank you, Julie. The photos you sent us are lovely. Unfortunately, we can’t show all of them here but perhaps this big one of Evie and Nell in this magnificent setting will bring back happy memories for some people who’ve already been here!
Tony Britton
Senior Fundraising Volunteer, The ME Association
fundraising@meassociation.org.uk
